Is it legal for me to trap an opossum?

We live in a country that is governed by laws. Many of these laws make a lot of sense, like you can’t take someone else’s property or hit a person in the face, but there are some that seem quite peculiar. Many of these have to do with wild animals and whether you can hunt or capture a certain type of wild animal.

This can be a sticky situation, because you may find yourself with a wild animal, like an opossum, that is living in or near your home. You want to get rid of it so you decide to trap it. However, you don’t want to get caught up in one of those odd laws and find yourself in trouble simply because you wanted to rid your property of this pest. So, the question is then is it legal to trap an opossum?

The answer to that is that it depends. In most states the answer is no. The possum is not a protected animal at all, and so you can do with it as you wish. In fact, many people see an opossum as a good source of food, and there are many places in this country where it is served as a dish. While you may never have eaten this meat before, it is meat, and so it is perfectly edible to eat if you so desire.

This is the kind of thing that pioneers ate for generations after they came to this country. If they can survive off of it, so can you.

With that being said, there may be some areas where it is not legal to trap it. The causes for the laws are probably based around safety. These animals can carry a large number of diseases, including distemper and rabies, and there may be places where they don’t want people handling them, and they surely don’t want a person eating it. For this reason, there may be laws prohibiting you capturing them.

If you are concerned about this, then the sensible thing to do is to check with your local sheriff’s department. It is likely that they will know if there are any laws that prohibit the capture of these animals. If not or if they are unsure, then you may want to contact the local animal control agency. They will for sure know what is legal. They may even be able to assist you in the capture if you check with them.

While this is not true everywhere, some counties are worried about the diseases these animals have, and so if they can help you to get rid of the rodent before it can bite or scratch you and your family, they may be willing to do so.
Read more: Opossum Control, How to Get Rid of Opossums, Opossum Feces.